Tell Me Why
by Queen Boadicea
Summary: Buffy faces off against a grief-stricken Willow bent on ending the world.


Title: Tell Me Why

Author: Queen Boadicea

Email: queenboadiceaoftheiceni@yahoo.com

Disclaim: This belongs to the great and powerful Joss and the usual gang of idi…uh, geniuses.

Feedback: Do your worst—it can't compare to my worst ;)

Notes: Spoilers for BtVS season six episodes "Two to Go" and "Grave" from which a lot of dialogue is liberally lifted

[thoughts]

"So. Here we are." Willow smiled coldly at Buffy. She could afford to let Jonathan and that other one get away for the time being. Given that she could fly, catching up to them would be a snap. She could track their essences now like a dog following a scent. She just had to take care of one little annoyance first.

Buffy didn't know how it had come to this. One moment she'd been in the front yard, telling Xander that she loved him. It was mere platonic love only; he understood it to be such and didn't care. Whatever romantic feelings he'd had for her had been laid to rest long ago.

Then Warren had shown up, angry and bitter at how she'd ruined his plans…and toting a gun. The gun went off—and Buffy woke up in a hospital. She could remember lying on the ground mildly wondering how she could die like this…not at the hands of a demon but from an ordinary handgun. Life was funny.

Warren had meant to kill Buffy. It was only through Willow's intervention that she was still alive. Something about that was bothering Buffy but she couldn't drop her guard for an instant to think about it.

Somehow, she'd gotten from there to the Magic Box, facing off against Willow. Only she didn't look or act anything like the Willow Buffy knew.

It was grief. She got that. A stray bullet from Warren's gun had killed Tara and in a single moment taken away everything Willow loved. This blank-eyed hostile stranger with raven hair where her red tresses had once been was born from that terrible accident.

"Are we really gonna do this?" Buffy was stalling and she was sure Willow knew it. But she was making a last ditch attempt to get through to her friend. She just knew the real Willow was in there somewhere. She wasn't certain how she knew but it couldn't be all darkness and rage.

"Come on, this is a huge deal for me! Six years as a side man and now—I get to be the Slayer."

"Is that what this is all about? You're proving that you're my equal, that you're not just shy little Willow? You haven't been like that for a long time. We care about you and we—"

Willow was impatient. Buffy was deliberately wasting time and she was fed up with it. "Blah blah blah blah blah. Are we gonna fight now or what?"

"Why do you wanna fight me?"

That threw her for a moment but she shrugged it off. She knew what was going on. Buffy was trying to psych her out. Well, she could forget that. The blonde wasn't the brains of their little Scooby outfit and she wasn't about to best Willow in a game of wits.

"You're in my way. I've got things to do, nerds to slaughter and you're all 'Buffy to the rescue.' Well, this Willow don't play that. So either we fight or you toddle on home while I hunt down the nerd herd. Oh, wait. There's just two of them now. That's hardly a herd, is it?" the dark-haired woman mused.

"If I'm in your way, why did you bring me back? Again?" An idea was surfacing in Buffy's mind. There had been something wrong with this scenario ever since she came to in the hospital and she was beginning to figure out what it was.

"What? Oh, you mean after you got shot. I needed wheels and I knew Xander wouldn't leave you."

"That's bull, Willow. You used magic to hijack a car when you broke Dawn's arm. You didn't need Xander to drive you anywhere. And seeing how you're like the Wicked Witch only without a broomstick, you hardly need a car. So tell me why."

Willow was rattled, Buffy could tell. There was a flicker of doubt in her eyes that was ruthlessly swept away. "I don't have to tell you anything." She lashed out with her fist and knocked Buffy across the floor.

Buffy scrambled up. The punch was hard, more so than Willow should have been capable of, and Buffy felt a moment's fear. She didn't know how she was going to beat Willow without one of them winding up seriously hurt or dead in the process but she couldn't let that concern stop her.

"No, you don't have to. Just as you didn't have to bring me back to life. So why did you? Xander told me they made you leader. He even showed me the plaque."

Willow sneered at her. "That stupid tacky thing? Yeah, so what. The moment I tried to do something important, they challenged me. It was 'oh, we'll follow Willow when we're patrolling' but talk about big magic and it's 'STOP THE HORSES!' Screw that. Nobody's gonna stand in my way again. Especially you."

She swung at Buffy again but this time the Slayer was prepared for her. She blocked the blow and countered with a kick to Willow's stomach. The blow should have felled her but the wicca merely staggered and followed up with a vicious punch to Buffy's head. The blonde Slayer was propelled across the room into one of the bookshelves.

Buffy leapt to her feet as she shook off the attack. "If I'm in your way, why the whole resurrection dealie? You were the big gun while I was under the earth. You could have gone on leading the others but you brought me back…so you could go back to being my side man. Why did you do it?"

I-we…the others needed you. Dawn needed you. The Buffybot was a good fighter but she wasn't cutting it with her social skills. Sooner or later someone would have noticed and then Dawn would have been hauled away. I—the others didn't want that."

"That might explain the first time. But why did you save me at the hospital? Like you said, you had nerds to kill, starting with Warren. Saving me slowed you down and you _knew_ that I was going to stop you. If you'd let me die, you wouldn't have to fight me now. So c'mon, Will. 'Fess up."

Willow had thought that she was beyond human emotion at this point. But now she was getting pissed. "You think this is about you? That I care about you? Not any more. See, I thought you'd understand. When your mother died, you wanted to lash out and hurt somebody, make them pay. I could see that, so don't deny it. But her death wasn't anything supernatural. Just a little old aneurysm the stupid doctors overlooked. You didn't have anyone to blame for what happened to her.

"But I do. Warren killed Tara. He was aiming for you but he got her. I saved you because I didn't want to lose any more friends because of him. Those miserable pissants that ran out the door with their tails between their legs stayed with Warren after he killed Katrina. They could have turned him in to the cops and saved us a whole lot of heartbreak. But they didn't. They're just as guilty as he is. And if you protect them, then you're no better."

She flung out her hands and an invisible wave hit Buffy, throwing her into a display case. Shards of glass exploded from the impact and the shelves collapsed underneath her body. She staggered up and winced as she felt minute crystalline needles dig into her back.

"You're being avoidy girl. Why did you save me? And if you didn't want to lose anybody else, why're you trying to kill me now?"

Willow's eyes flickered again. There was a breathless hush as the unanswered questions hung in the air. Then a ball of green energy caught Willow from the side. She flew across the room and slid across the floor, looking towards the door in surprise.

Giles stood framed in the open doorway. The grim look on his face never wavered as he took in the wreckage in the Magic Box, the prone woman lying on the floor.

Willow giggled, the brief indecision on her face vanishing like smoke. "Uh oh. Daddy's home. I'm in wicked trouble now."

[Dammit!] She had been getting through to Willow; Buffy was sure of it. Now they were back to fighting again. True, Giles looked to have picked up some serious mojo but she wasn't sure it was going to be enough to fight the enraged wicca. "Giles? How—how did you do that?"

He didn't answer her but kept his eyes steadily trained on the dark-haired woman as she struggled to stand. "No. Stay down." He gestured towards Willow and she sprawled on the floor again.

She was momentarily surprised and then she dismissed his apparent newfound abilities. "That's borrowed power. No way is it gonna be strong enough—"

"I'm here to help you." He spoke softly while approaching her.

She rolled her eyes at his attempts to placate her. "Thanks, but I can kill a couple of geeks by myself. But, hey, if you'd like to watch…I mean, that's what you Watchers are good at, right? Watching? Butting in on things that don't concern you."

He stopped near her body. "You concern me, Willow. Stay on this path and you'll wind up dead."

Buffy made another attempt to get through to her erstwhile friend. "Willow, listen to him. I don't want to fight you anymore."

Willow levitated to her feet as if drawn upwards on unseen strings. "I don't want to fight you either. I want to fight _him_." A bolt of dark energy flew from her hands and knocked Giles into a wall. Buffy stared, appalled, as her former Watcher slumped to the floor. Willow opened her hand and a coruscating ball of light appeared over her palm. She stared at it in amusement and grinned at Buffy. 

"You probably think you're buying escape time for Jonathan and the other one. Well, I've got a little secret for ya. I can kill them from anywhere I want." She bounced the light up and down in her hand as if it were a basketball. "With this. It'll find them. It'll bury them…along with anyone helping those Dead Men Walking. Unless…" Her voice trailed away mockingly and she winked at the blonde. "Somebody, somehow, can get there in time to save them. Oh well."

She was done talking to Buffy. The Slayer was just a pathetic _hero_ wasting her time saving people who weren't worth the effort. She threw the ball up and it burst through the ceiling leaving a large hole in the roof. "Fly, my pretty, fly."

Buffy didn't say another word. She tore out of the Magic Box, racing to keep the mystical deadly orb in sight. The thing was fast, no doubt about that, but she was still able to keep it in view. She couldn't help but feel that Willow was taunting her with her geek-seeking missile. It stayed within sight but just far enough ahead of her so that it would reach its target before she did.

The ball turned and she saw that it was heading towards one of the more disused cemeteries. [Why are the guys…oh, Xander must have thought taking them into a crypt was a good idea.] She redoubled her speed and saw her friends and sister just up ahead.

Dawn was pointing towards the fireball and the other three looked up in alarm at the projectile headed in their direction. Buffy crashed into Jonathan and Andrew, knocking them clear, just as the ball hit the ground. Dirt was thrown up several feet into the air and the ground collapsed under Xander and Dawn. The Slayer was thrown hard into a nearby crypt. She banged her head jarringly against the stone and lay still.

Buffy blinked, shook her head and winced. There was a throbbing in her skull behind her eyes. A nasty headache was lurking around the corner and she was determined to avoid it.

"Buffy? Buffy? Wake up!" Somebody was jostling her roughly and she shoved against the prodding hand and opened her eyes. "That's better. Though now that I think about it, it might be better if you slept through it all."

Buffy sat up, squinting against the approaching dawn. Damn, how long had she been out? "Anya? What's happened? What are you doing here?"

The demon turned her head towards the enormous hole in the ground. "Well, short version. Xander and Dawn are at the bottom of a hole. I can't teleport them out so I guess they're stuck there. I'd call the police but, since the world is about to end, I really don't see the point."

"The world's about—when did _that_ happen?"

"Really short version. Giles' borrowed magic was too much of a temptation for Willow to resist so she stole it from him. She got overwhelmed with the suffering of the world so she's decided to end it." She eyed Buffy uncertainly. "Do you think you can stand? I want to get back to Giles. She hurt him really badly. I-I don't think he's going to make it and he's all alone."

"Wait!" Buffy threw up a hand to stop the demon from disappearing. "She's going to destroy the world? She can do that?"

"She can and she will. Now I've really got to go."

Buffy tightened her grip. "Where's Willow? Where did she go?"

Anya shook her head impatiently. "I know what you're thinking, Buffy. Giles guessed as much when I said I was going to find you. He said no magic or supernatural force on earth could stop Willow. She's literally unstoppable now. You're not going to be able to do anything against her. She's kicked your ass once already."

"Just tell me where she is."

Willow stood on Kingman's Bluff. The sun was rising and something inside her rebelled at its intrusive light. Such dark magicks as she was about to conjure were best performed at night. Tradition demanded it—not to mention the need for secrecy. Dawn was the sign of hope and hope had no place here. It was too late for hope. It was too late for anything.

She stared at the statue of the demoness in front of her. The hair was portrayed as writhing snakes and a forked tongue protruded from the open mouth. However, the statue was merely the steeple decoration for the church. She'd have to raise the entire thing for the incantation to work.

No problem.

Willow's eyes darkened and the church began to rise in an obscene parody of birth. The spire pushed out of the ground as more and more of the building became visible. Green magic began swirling around her form, flowing from her into the statue. "From the pit of forgotten shadows, awaken, sister of the dark, awaken. Proserpexa, whose followers tragically died so long ago, heed the call of this broken-hearted woman…"

Suddenly a blonde-haired blur rushed between her and the statue. "Hey, there, Will. Thought you could throw an end-of-the-world party and not invite me? Gosh, I'm hurt. And here I thought we were best friends."

Willow rolled her eyes. Goddess, not her again. "Always the Slayer. You couldn't go down without one last fight, could ya? Well, you're not gonna stop me, not now that I've gotten all juiced up from Giles. I'd thank him but I'm kinda busy. So if you don't mind, I've got a world to demolish." Dark rays lanced from her fingers and ripped at Buffy, smacking her into Proserpexa's image.

"Like I said before, Willow, if you wanted to prove yourself the top gun, you should have planned your battle strategy a little better."

"Bored now." More energy streaked towards Buffy and she reeled as it knocked her back into the effigy.

Buffy staggered up as she tried not to pant for breath. "You still need to explain why you saved me. Why you took the trouble. Buffy or no Buffy, you could have held onto Dawn. You're smart; you would have found a way. If not, would staying with her father have been so bad? He's been out of our lives for so long—it would have been an opportunity for her to be with him again. You could have sold the house, forgot the expense of living there, kept patrolling the Hellmouth. But you didn't. You brought me back. Why?"

"Is this _your_ strategy? Ya gonna talk me to death? Gotta tell ya, I expected better from the Slayer."

"I'm not the Slayer." The soft words caused Willow to hesitate. "Not here. Now now. I'm just Buffy. And you're just Willow."

"Don't call me that," the former redhead hissed.

"Why not? You were Willow to me when I first met you at Sunnydale High. Cordelia attacked you and I couldn't understand why she'd do that to someone who was obviously so sweet and terrific. You were Willow when you helped me with my homework. You were Willow when you introduced me to your friends and took me into your circle. You were Willow when we talked together about Angel and nobody else understood or cared about him. You were Willow when I came down off of my Faith high and decided to stick with my bestest girlfriend instead of some psycho who thought slaying was be-all and end-all of everything."

Buffy drew closer to the woman in the black denim. Willow's face was twisted as if she were having an internal struggle. She flung up her hand and this time there was no flare of magic. But Buffy's head snapped to the side as if slapped and long ugly scratches appeared on her face. "Shut up! Just shut up! I don't want to hear this!"

"When you gave Angel his soul back, you were Willow. When you brought me back from death twice, you were Willow. Strong, powerful, babbling redhead or crazed, veiny, super-scary…you'll always be Willow. I love you."

"You LOVE me?! Are you crazy? I yanked you out of heaven, remember? I put you back in this world you hate so much, you wanted to spend the rest of your life in a coma!" Another invisible blow and Buffy doubled over. When she straightened up again, her blouse was ripped and bloody scratches had appeared on her torso.

"I love you. And you love me. Isn't that why you rescued me?"

"No," the witch whimpered. More magic arced from her towards her friend but the fizzling energy barely slowed the blonde woman down. Willow stared at her hands in panic.

"I know you love me. You stormed the gates of heaven to get me back! If that isn't love, what is?"

"Stop saying that!" This time the magic was so feeble it died out before it even reached Buffy.

The Slayer continued walking up to her. She wondered why she hadn't understood before. "I love you, Willow. That never changes, no matter what. And if the world is going to end, then where else am I gonna be?"

As she reached her friend, Willow began sobbing and pummeling Buffy with her fists. The blows were inconsequential, nothing like the brutal punches she'd traded with the Slayer in the Magic Box. Buffy stood silently and let the assault fall on her body.

When the attack proved futile, the wicca sank to the ground and began crying. Great jagged sobs tore their way out of her body while Buffy held her tightly in her arms.

Gradually, she was able to distinguish words from amidst the choked outpour. "Sh-she knew. Tara knew. I loved her, I really did. But she could always…she knew she wasn't the first, the one I really wanted. But you never…I turned to Oz and then her. I barely even cried when she left me that first time. But I was so glad to have her back. And then he KILLED her! He took her from me and I was so guilty because I didn't love her the way I should have, the way she wanted. If it hadn't been for me, she wouldn't have been there trying to make it work. She wouldn't have been in front of that window. It was my fault! It's my fault she's dead!"

"No, no, never. It's not your fault, Will. It was Warren's. Tara doesn't blame you. If she felt anything for that's even half of what I feel, then she couldn't possibly blame you." Buffy glanced down at the woman in her arms. Her breath caught and she felt tears sting her own eyes.

The dark hair had faded away. In its place was the familiar red hair Buffy had grown to know and love. The coarse veins that had covered Willow's face like the routes on a roadmap had also disappeared.

The new dawn came over the world and enveloped the embracing women in its warm light.

Finis


End file.
